is >> fox news sunday is a presentation of fox news. this week on the journal, editorial report. president obama's approval rating takes a hit. rating takes a hit especially among independents. are the scandals taking a toll? sharp divisions over syriag lead a icy encounter at the g-8. does russia have the uppert hand? takes aim at new york. could your state be the next target? ♪ ♪ >> paul: welcome to the editorial report. i'm paul gigot. troubling poll numbers for recent controversies

including nas targeting mayg finally be taking their toll. job approval dropped eight points in one month according to a polll released this week with 45%d approving of job he is doing and 54% disapproving. that brings his real clear politics average to well. under 50%. perhaps most worrisome is 17-point drop among peopleth under 30. d joining the panel this week, wall street kloumist dan henninger.mn james free man and washington columnist kim strassel. how do you read this poll drop.um is it just the scandals and which one in particular? >> i think what you are seeing is the different scandals are resonatingp look at the independents.ls that cnn poll going back a

independents thought it wasen tied irs scandal to the white house. that number is more than 51%. then you go over ton millennials. 17-point drop that seems to be more related to the nsa. these are facebook, twitter crowd people and they are concerned about the claim of big brother.- when you put all theseai together and that is whyhe you see an overall erosion of president's approval rating. >> paul: to what extent, dan, does this affect presidential leadership and the perception of credibility. are those central issues here? >> absolutely, paul. what it affects is, presidential stature and authority. this is the president and he is supposed to be able to lead the country but for that he has to have supportd and authority. t i think that these things are eroding that authoritys not merely in the country but in washington among the insiders on capitol hill. this is accumulative

effect. first you had benghazi -- that is what they say publicly. we have had stories about the democrats doing the immigration bill asking the president not to getg involved because doing just fine. when he got involved in the deficit negotiations they went south.in problem this president simply does not havero significant political skill at that level.ot he doesn't like to do that sort ofgn thing. he pulls himself away from the hurry but burley ofay politics and this like thepe nsa scandal where he hasin refused to come forward and defend a defensible program. >> paul: he gave a press conference and for eight days, radio silence? >> all of that is eroding.in >> paul: finally he went on charlie rose, we created fisa court. no he didn't. in 2008 it was applied to

overseas wiretaps. he inherited that program. where is this irs scandals. now going? >> a lot of democrats are saying, you know what, it is over. we have talked to a couple of people in cincinnati andow our vehicles they say it was no big deal. is that true? >> it's not over and ig think cnn poll tells youit the american people don'tol want this -- striking findings how much distrust abou t the administration's story but a full 25% ofst self-described liberals in that poll think that the irs targeting was directed by senator officials in the white house. we're going to find outic what to any extent there was political white house or political appointees involved. >> paul: are we really going to find that out? >> the question of leadership with presidentg obama. the political leadershipid was involved, it's absolutely true that hisas leadership on this issued, has been terrible.

moment it came out heh claimed that the irs was an independent agency. it is not. they work for him. this is the way to try tono distance himself. >> paul: he said let's investigate it. he has eric holder investigating it. >> hold on. mr. holder announced an investigation. a month later the head of the f.b.i. goes to theon house, i don't know who isf running that.go people are working on it. w this week -- before the i senate and had a little more answers he said he had some agents on it. but we're not seeing any evidence there is actually an investigation happening in terms of witnesses being interviewed. you don't see the tea partyrm people being interviewed byed f.b.i. agents. i think if the president wants to work on these. polls he has to showto leadership and i recognize this is ash big problem. i want to find out what happened. >> paul:ay how is the investigation on capitol hill and irs going on. behind the scenes? is it coming along and making progress? >> it is.t i think what the

republicans have learned through prior investigations, you can call in the big nameth officials like they did with lois lerner that headed tax organization, do you have to sfrart the have top and interview the people.nd what we have seen from some of the transcripts orro portions of the transcripts that have been released.ed those people on the groundsc are getting realos information, name some names and explain how the process works and who ise making the decisions. that has not been released in full but that is house what house republicans arele working on behind the scenes. that is why you have seen a lull because this is heavy duty investigative part. >> we are trying to figuree out how it started but it's clear that washington satth on a plot of these applications and to this day are still sitting on them. >> paul: dan? >> in the poll ratings, he has been at 50% his entire

presidency. the american people give this presidency the benefit of the drop.e that five-point drop is a bad sign. ife- he starts falling likek that everything will start f will pull back from him including the democrats in washington.k he could be a lame duck by the end of the year. >> paul: when we come backla an icy encounter at g-8 as president obama and vladimir putin stare each other down over syria. they are raising their involvement in the two-year civil war but does russia civil war but does russia have the advantage? and 100% real cheddar cheese. but what makes stouffer's mac n' cheese best of all. that moment you enjoy it at home. stouffer's. made with care for you or your family. [ lighter flicking ] [ male announcer ] you've reached the age where giving up isn't who you are.

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♪ ♪ >> paul: chilly meeting between president obama and vladimir putin at the g-8 summit in northern ireland this week where the two sides clashed on the best way to end the 26-month civil war in syria. it came days after the

obama administration they would supply small arms to the rebels. critics say it's too little, too late. joining us us is brett stephens and matt cominsky. so he went over there to persuade vladimir putin supporting assad and try to get rid of him. they didn't succeed? >> for the last two years to get russia to do that. they don't want assad to leave. syria is their own arab ally. only port in the black sea and vladimir putin doesn't want to see the west enter vaccine and push assad out. it's a bad precedent for him at home. >> paul: one of president obama's big goals was to

reset relations with russia. what has he had to show for it? >> he has to salt treaty over nuclear reduction. otherwise, very little. by the way, he wasn't the first president to restart relations with russia. george w. bush tried in back in 2001 and you find yourself disappointed by vladimir putin he is a soviet men believes the greatest tragedy was the fall of the soviet empire. what he has been trying to reconstitute that empire. keeping syria and hue mill crating the united states is parts of the strategy. >> paul: what about syria. the the same day they announced the change, president sent his deputy, national security advisor to alert the press of this change.

and under cut it the same day he only did it because he wants to get assad to the negotiating table seems to undercut their message on syria. how serious should we take this disarming -- arming decision? >> syria would like to know the answer themselves. this is recurring problem with this president. what the level of his commitment. is he in or out or somewhere if 'n between? some people feel he is often in between. john kerry is about to go in an overseas trip. he is visiting 7 different countries in a two-week period starting in qatar where he'll have a meeting about syria. the idea is to try to discuss the level of arms. they are going to ship in there but to talk as well again about drawing russia into negotiations in geneva. that has to confuse every party involved in what is going on in sear cla.

what exactly do they want? >> paul: especially so, what is -- >> to enter these negotiations. they are winning. this is something that we haven't really gotten in the way that we should. assad forces are making serious inroad and using allies hezbollah and allies in iran to defeat the sunni insurgency. we are trying to provide the insurgency with things they can always get not the things u.s. can supply like a no fly zone, bombing runways. that is what the u.s. can do very effectively. >> paul: isn't president obama, doesn't he have public opinion on his side. there is no american desire to get involved in another middle east conflict, is there? >> he never spoken syria himself.

a president has to lead. americans will not be happy to go to war but they will support a president who makes a case for military intervention. again, it doesn't mean that american troops will be in syria. it just means that the u.s. will get in the game. really the only kind of game changer would be to military on the ground in syria is to ground assad's planes. >> paul: what the end game for you if we do that? what do you want to see? what should the u.s. push for? >> we want to topple the assad regime. >> paul: then what? >> then what happens in sear why with the rel rebels. islamists that are rising in the movement and more mainstream opposition. bottom line, no arab country has willingly supported an al-qaeda type regime. >> our responsibility is not to ensure on democratic

stable outcome in syria. our responsibility is to ensure this enemy of the united states is toppled, it's chemical weapons don't get out of the country and that iran is strategically defeated in a key theater. okay? we don't need to make sure there is a non-sectarian government that is going to respect all the interests of people. that is skreer seerian people. it doesn't necessarily mean to reengineer iraq with a democratic government in there. >> paul: when we come back, rick perry has blue state governors seeing red over his attempts to lure jobs to texas. this week he set his sights on high tax states of new york and connecticut. could yours be next? i don't alwe to eat like i should. that's why i like glucerna shakes. they have slowly digestible carbs to help minimize blood sugar spikes. [ male announcer ] glucerna. helping people with diabetes find balance.

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♪ >> paul: first it was california and illinois. this week, texas, governor rick perry took his lone star swagger to new york and connecticut and what they call a job poaching tour to recruit businesses away from high-tech regulation places like the empire state. >> if you took the books of rules and regulations in new york state, 49,000 pages and one of the reasons that small business owners tell us new york is hard place to do business. >> they can't afford to hire more people. >> new york city plans pla tongue out law sodas. >> to say it is against the law? >> more jobs and businesses move to texas than any other state. our state is number one for business because we have no

state income tax. texas is ranked number one in business for the ninth straight year and add more jobs than any state in the nation over the last five years. >> paul: so james, what do you make of the texas jobs' tour? >> i'm fairly excited. [ laughter ] >> i think this is really ought to be a public service announcement and aired for free because he is doing a public service. this is what we hope for when we talk about state competition. they compete and pursue different models and we are seeing in texas the low regulation model. job gains, g.d.p. growth very, low unemployment rate in new jersey and lower than connecticut. it may be the recuser to a perry presidential run. i think it is a great public service, let's follow this model. >> paul: ways doing some research and states in 2012

that had the fastest economic growth in the country were north dakota, and texas number two. 4.8% in state g.d.p. in 2012. some of that is oil and gas but more diversed economy than north dakota's. is this red state, blue stated argument that perry is making is something going to have real legs? >> oh, yeah, because what he is talking about is real. he isn't just running ads. texans come into the states and they talk to business owners, large corporate scoef789 and if they go down to texas -- ceos and they will find an environment, whether the governor or comptroller's office, if you have a problem they will say let's work it out and try to help you succeed rather than as

in new york you've got an attorney general whose job seems to be routinely high pressure and sue and hammer and sue businesses in new york. it's a completely different environment. it's not to say they don't have regulation in texas. these businesses will say we have to comply, but not an adversarial relationship. >> paul: jerry brown teamed so resent this quite a bit. they had a big flap about that. new york governor ignored it much like he has ignored the economy? >> it's hard to figure out how to respond. perry has a better economic story. his a state is working and their states are not. they have high unemployment and budget problems. mr. cuomo part of his responses is making excuses why taxes can't be cut. that is power of the texas

example. without a state income tax look at all the prosperity. >> paul: so it could be a prelude for rick perry running in 2016. he said don't do it, he had surgery before he ran and he gets in early. so is this really a good idea? there are more blue states than red states and you have to win more states to win the presidency is this aheme to run on? >> i think economic success is good one even in blue states. these are average people who want to have jobs and children, have good jobs, that i think would work. i would add one more and that is participating in president al primaries. he had a little trouble speaking extemporaneously. >> paul: it's more populace blue states? >> i think if mr. perry may

be more formidable. he got in late because he intends to do it he may perform better. >> paul: we need to take one more break. when we come back hits and misses of the week. guys doing? having some fiber! with new phillips' fiber good gummies. they're fruity delicious! just two gummies have 4 grams of fiber! to help support gularity! i want some... [ woman ] hop on over! [ marge ] fiber the fun way, from phillips'. ♪ ♪

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♪ ♪ >> paul: time for hits and misses of the week. kim, you start us off? >> i hit to the 62 conservative republicans who this week killed the nearly one trillion dollar farm bill in the house. republicans like to brag about their reform credentials but to complain that the democratic president and senate stymied them from moving ahead. here they have a bill where they could have done a smart idea of resmgh food stamps but instead we got the same big spending, subsidy blowouts that have been the hallmark of every

farm bill. it reminds us of what they are there for. >> this is miss to palestinian president abbas and kerry trying to engineer peace talks. just the other day the palestinian prime minister who has been in office decided to render his resignation. now, they can't form a government and how are we supposed to make peace with them? >> from the empire state build. astrodome, it's been moth-balled for years and destined to be a parking lot. this week the harris county board with $194 million plan to turn the astrodome to turn it into a convention center. it's a small price to pay of the texas icon. >> paul: that is it for

this week's show. thanks to my panel. i'm paul gigot. we hope to see you right here next week. on fox news watch. with scandals engulfing the white house like the irs targeting tea partiers, nsa snooping on americans, eric holder and justice department going after journalists the president talks a road trip. but his charm ff falling flat and big spreech not so big. how did the media rate his performance? >> dick cheney condemns the leaker. liberal media ignore the details and attack cheney. and then slams the media for doing their job. they are tired of getting bad press so he